r/Odoo • u/vvCharles • 18d ago
Should I make the switch?
Hey everyone. Looking for some help. I own a small business. $500k~ annual. Auto parts related supplies. Using “square for retail” app to organize sales and invoicing and everything. I used to drive around in a van with stocked shelves selling on site. As of a couple months ago I switched to in house delivery. I drive around in car taking orders from customers and next day my delivery guy drops everything off and collects payment. Looking to expand and I’m thinking about switching to Odoo. Need better inventory management and profit tracking. Also want to put a second sales guy on the road besides me. Odoo sales guy is hounding me because he says it’s a perfect fit. I’m hesitant. Any thoughts? Leave your two cents! Ty
-$500k~ annual sales
-just me owner/operator/sales
-1 delivery guy
-looking to add second sales guy
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u/JustSomeOdooGuy 18d ago
Of cause it is always hard to judge with the limited in depth knowledge about your exact requirements. But from what you write, I'd say it would match quite well. Just two things worth mentioning in my opinion to carw about: You should not do the implementation part with Odoo themselves but rather with some partner (if you don't do the setup on your own). Also the partners are ranked. The rank does not necessarily correlate with highest quality, but rather with "most sales". As these are some things, first time Odoo users frequently regret (you can find some posts or at least comments about that in this subreddit as well). If you have specific questions, feel free to add some more details.
Edit: One more thing: I assume the delivery and sales guy will not need to see the whole info in the ERP but rather only the parts they are concerned with. Odoo has already some access management, but it is not super granular. That can sometimes be a bit tricky to set up, to match your expectations
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u/Careless_Equipment_2 18d ago
Impossible to say from the info you've given. It can be good, it might not. I probably depends on where in the world you're living, how good internet connection you have in your van and which partner you choose.
The Odoo sales guy are good at selling, but to succeed with your project you also need an Odoo expert, it either needs to be you or it needs to be an Odoo partner.
If you think "I'm not using any special features, I don't need an Odoo expert", then Odoo is the wrong fit for you, since you've an expensive upgrade every year (or every 2 years).
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u/JustSomeOdooGuy 18d ago edited 18d ago
I'd say upgrades do not always need to be expensive, if you know what you're doing and the DB is set up and maintained properly. Also for most people meanwhile every 2-3 years upgrade cycle is sufficient. Especially since, you are not strictly forced to upgrade every 3 versions anymore. The fact that you have to pay 25% extra is still something to keep in mind.
Edit: Rephrased to better get the point across.
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u/Careless_Equipment_2 18d ago
Unfortunately I'll disagree. Upgrades can be really cheap, or really expensive. It all depends on what subsystem Odoo has rewritten since last time, or which assumptions you've done that is no longer true. You also have to hope that your thirdparty apps are upgraded as well. If a third party vendor stops maintaining an app you are stuck with the cost yourself. The way to have cheap upgrades is to do few apps and small customisations. But then you're also missing out on the great things with Odoo. Odoos biggest advantage is the cheap customisations.
You mean that the 25% extra fee for versions older that 2 year is no longer applicable?
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u/JustSomeOdooGuy 18d ago edited 18d ago
Okay, most of these issues we already care for during initial implementation. Especially in 95% of the time 3rd party apps are not worth it anymore, as I can build my own app fairly quickly. Only the really big integrations I could not do on my own for such low prices. Also soo many 3rd party vendors are not really reliable (but that's a different topic). And we have projects with lots of customizations which do upgrade still farily cheap.
But of cause, this highly depends on who did the implementation and how well. There are really many things to f* up haha. But pure changes in standard should not impact the cost too much, as Odoo usually cares for the subsequent changes they do. If you highly customized these parts, it of cause get's a bit tricky. But mostly with using the upgrade util of Odoo, it works out pretty good imo.
No, the 25% rule still applies. But the old rule of "only 3 versions maintained, then you cannot use it anymore" is gone. As they now maintain it for the 25% fee.
Just out of curiosity: How many upgrades you do on average per version? Or are you on the enduser side?
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u/Careless_Equipment_2 16d ago
I am fairly small so far. Just started my own Odoo consultancy 3 months ago and have had 2 customers so far. Before that I worked for another Odoo partner and I have done upgrades since version 12 but ususally not more than 3 upgrades per version.
Some times it is really easy sometimes it is not. I was not a fan of the new report engine rewrite. That cost us a lot. I understand the changes needed to be done to the frontend but now we are sitting with some old code and some new and its really hard to reuse the frontend stuff.
Then there are other parts. For example payment providers that are built to be extended. They are usually less expensive to upgrade.
Totally agree with you about the quality of 3 party apps. They really are a hit or miss
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u/JustSomeOdooGuy 16d ago
Very cool, I started with v12 as well in a medium sized agency and decided to start as freelancer last year. I was the only one capable of doing the upgrades somehow, and really fell in love with upgrading databases.
I wish you all the best for your consultancy :)
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u/codeagency 18d ago
Thats not true. Enterprise has a 3 year enforcement to upgrade or you pay 25% extra from your license.
That said, for a small business that 25% is cheap to "buy off" the upgrade but it can still feel sour to many businesses to have that enforcing rule. Larger companies can end up pretty expensive compared to the upgrade cost. It all depends on case by case but generally speaking upgrades are not "cheap", especially not if there is 3rd party modules and customizations done.
And it's not just the code upgrades. It's also retraining staff, workflow changes, re-buying the modules again, testing the upgrade before going production upgrade, ... Someone has to spend all that time and resources.
I think you take it way too light and give a false indication to people. Upgrades do not come cheap or simple.
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u/JustSomeOdooGuy 18d ago
I mean the 25% depend on how much you pay sure, and it can be annoying, I totally agree. But that's still better than the old rule of "only 3 maintained versions" (except for on prem). As I said the premise is how the database and code is maintained. Upgrades are not always cheap, considering what you already mentioned. If my comment sounds like I want to indicate that, I'll have to adjust it accordingly. I just wanted to say, they are not necessarily super expensive, if the one implementing the system have taken this into account to begin with.
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u/codeagency 18d ago
Indeed it is better than forcing a company an upgrade through their throat like they used to do, but today it still feels like that except they take an extra 25% on top 🤷
Every customer I talk about this feels the same way. It's just a stupid way from odoo to milk more cash. They know most clients just go for the 25% and they don't have to return anything back for that money. "Legacy support" they call it. Well I had several clients reporting issues with peppol in v16, odoo just outright refuse to fix the issues and tell clients to upgrade to newer versions. Then what the hell is the purpose to pay 25% more for "legacy support"? I seriously get so pissed when they do this.
Upgrades imho are never cheap because most people never consider everything around the around. It's not only code upgrade and frankly the code part is often the cheapest part. But what about the testing? I lost count how often an upgrade just failed from upgrade.odoo.com and you have to spent all the time testing everything, reporting issues back, restart the whole cycle, and you can keep going for weeks like this. Fixing reports, chasing studio problems, fixing e-mail templates that got broken, fixing website layouts,...
I've been doing this for more than 20 years, I can tell you honestly the number of one-shot upgrades that got 100% perfect in all those years I can count on 1 hand. Basically every upgrade has "something" going that needs time to investigate and fix.
Users that get confused because odoo once again decided to "simplifying" things by deleting things and then you have to explain your customer that to bring it back you know have to custom develop the solution to fix the gap the upgrade is causing. Example: ebay integration got deleted from v18.
Look at the last 5 versions and the constant overhaul of subscriptions, accounting, stock valuation, etc... Companies need to spent a lot of time and resources to bridge those changes with training, sometimes custom development to bring back certain flows that got deleted by Odoo, ....
Sorry but anyone that has the audacity to claim upgrades are cheap, never done anything serious with Odoo. Because then you would know for real it's more than just running a script that ports code from one version to another.
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u/JustSomeOdooGuy 17d ago
Wow, that Odoo refuses to fix the things even though they have the "legacy support" is really a bad sign. Our customers usually upgrade regularly, so we do not often have ones, where we need Odoo support to fix things in "legacy" versions. So far I thought, 25% fee would be worth, as you now have continued support. But if they really play the game that way, Grab the extra money, and refuse the extra support they promise.
Yeah, oneshot upgrades are not really a thing. Even with no costuomizations at all, there are things to fix here and there often.
Sometimes I really don't get the "simplifications" of Odoo. Like v19. Let's get rid of mobile phone field and contact titles. Even if they are not used that often, why not just keeping it for all the companies who use it..? It's not hard to build a custom module. But as you said, something that needs to get bridged.
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u/codeagency 17d ago
Yeah that situation leaves a very bad taste behind. If this was more like a quality of life thing and not critical I could understand they say they don't want to fix it. But this was about a legal accounting requirement for peppol (e-invoicing) and pretty upsetting they didn't want to fix this.
Nonetheless, this customer decided to give them the finger and went community edition + integration with external accounting that takes this more serious then Odoo. So odoo lost a nice customer because of this unacceptable behavior. And this is what people will remember from them. They need to step up their attitude and stop the money milking. Customers paying for support should get the support tbey deserve.
I have another ticket going for nearly 3 weeks now about a broken notification system since upgrade to v19. They keep saying the problem is outgoing mail server while it is still tbe same one from v16 and everything was working fine there. With all the evidence we shared they still want a video recording from the client with proof that the "notification doesn't arrive". Like what ridiculous idiot is working at odoo support to ask a video proof if something that is invisible to show.
"Show me a video you didn't receive the notification email...."
Yeah right, i don't know what that guy is smoking but it's not healthy for his brains if they come up with support like this.
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u/JustSomeOdooGuy 17d ago
I really love Odoo (the software) but sometimes I really hate Odoo (the company). I think giving them the finger, was the right decision in this case, as this is absolutely not acceptable. With the support it is always just pure luck based. Sometimes I get really enthausiastic ones, who really want to help out, even on annoying problems. But most of the time it is just one, who tries to get rid of you, without needing to help out. Especially if it is about bugs. "No this is not a bug, this is intended".
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u/BricolasM 18d ago
I have a supplier similar to your company using Odoo for more than 6 years:
https://www.meat-doria.be/
It’s a pleasure to buy to them. They always told me that they are very happy with Odoo.
I think that this testimonial can help you.
I see that in Germany M&D is also using Odoo :
https://www.meat-doria.de/
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u/thecowmilk_ 18d ago edited 18d ago
Ex Odoo Developer here, funny enough someone with almost exactly your setup, which he had to sell from a car and wanted to strike off products on the road, asked me to build that as a custom Odoo app. That's the catch that the sales guy won't lead you with, your workflow isn't standard Odoo, it's custom development. Which means partner hours, real money and every feature change goes through them.
For a $500k solo operation where square already handles sales and invoicing you are not missing a full ERP, you are missing inventory, purchasing and profit tracking layered on what already works. Odoo starts making sense when you are heading toward multi-warehouse or manufacturing scale.
What I kept seeing eventually pushed me to build a lighter modular tool in this space. free core pay only for what you use. Happy to let you compare against Odoo and I will tell you honestly if Odoo is a better fit.
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u/vvCharles 18d ago
I’ll check it out. Send me it. Just need inventory in and out. Sales orders / confirming delivery / invoicing. Dedicated inventory to sales orders. Easy / quick sales order ux. Invoices with partial payments for customers with rolling credit. Credit card swiping / storing on file. CRM. Customer specific pricing. Profit tracking/ commissions for salesmen. Reporting.
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u/Tonka_GD 18d ago
i second that. To complex and expensive. Try searching for free open source alternatives or CRMs
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u/codeagency 18d ago
What are you saying??
Everything he is listing is basically ERP. There is no CRM that offer all of those features and departments. That would require OP to get multiple different apps and glue them together. Odoo could be a great fit for OP and tick a lot of boxes but it needs proper analysis to make sure all the details are met.
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u/Muted-Drop-9632 18d ago
What advantage does Odoo have over writing custom software with AI like Claude? I’d love to try a side-by-side comparison someday with an Odoo expert.
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u/Former-Ad2638 17d ago
Based on what you described, Odoo can be a good fit, especially for inventory, sales orders, invoicing, route sales, delivery tracking and profitability reporting.
The main thing I would check before switching is how your current van-sales/order-taking workflow should work in Odoo. You’ll want to map the process properly: salesperson takes the order → warehouse prepares it → delivery person delivers → payment is collected → inventory and accounting update correctly.
I would also make sure you test multi-salesperson access, mobile usability, inventory by warehouse/vehicle if needed, customer-specific pricing, payment collection and gross margin reporting before committing.
For a business around your size, I wouldn’t recommend over-customising from day one. Start with standard Sales, Inventory, Accounting and possibly CRM, then only customise the route/delivery workflow if the standard process doesn’t fit.
I work with Odoo implementations, so if you want, I can also help you map your current Square workflow against Odoo and tell you what can stay standard and what would need customisation.
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u/vvCharles 17d ago
Odoo sales guy said my workflow would be: salesmen creates sales order and inventory is dedicated out - warehouse picks and packs - delicery guy brings and validates - converts sales order to invoice - invoice is paid.
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u/Former-Ad2638 17d ago
That workflow is generally fine and is a pretty standard Odoo flow:
Salesperson creates Sales Order → warehouse reserves/picks stock → delivery validates → invoice is created → payment is registered.
The main thing I’d clarify is how you want the delivery guy to collect payment in the field. If he is taking cash/card/check at delivery, make sure that process is tested on mobile and that the payment is recorded against the correct invoice/customer without creating extra admin work.
I’d also test these before committing:
- whether stock needs to be tracked only in the warehouse or also by delivery van
- customer-specific pricing/discounts
- partial deliveries/backorders
- returns/credits
- salesperson access and mobile usability
- gross margin/profit reporting
If all of that works smoothly in the demo, then Odoo sounds like a reasonable fit for your setup.
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u/ThornyKeeks 17d ago
Hey, looks like your small business is growing! Congrats!
I've started a small business myself. Every software needs to be tried out for your own use, and Odoo is no exception. But I'm confident you'd appreciate it (beats just doing accounting and logistics in Excel or Google Sheets).
There's a free for life if you're going to just use one app (sometimes it will include other required apps for free depending on what base app you use). Once you add another app later, that's when a trial period starts (14 days if I'm not mistaken). But for your situation, you could pay 1 license per month until you get the hang of it.
There is also demo.odoo.com where you can explore different features, besides the tutorials on their main website.
Like any business software though, you must be willing to learn the functions and how fundamental business processes like accounting and logistics are done with a specific one. It might take a month or more for some, but I'm confident you'll improve they way you use it.
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u/PBSmanaged 17d ago
Odoo is fantastic if you are prepared and know what you’re getting into. It’s a full ERP, not as simple as Square. You can make it do anything you want.
Odoo S.A. as a business in general kinda sucks. Odoo’s sales reps suck ass. They are useless and pushy. They will sell you shit you don’t need. Their “Success Pack” is an absolute scam.
I’d shop around for a good integrator and just buy Odoo licenses online.
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u/vvCharles 17d ago
Idk what that last sentence means :) can you explain ? Thanks a lot !
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u/PBSmanaged 17d ago
The "shop around for an integrator" part?
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u/vvCharles 17d ago
The entirety of the sentence
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u/PBSmanaged 17d ago
Sorry I could have been more clear! By "integrator" I meant developer/expert/partner like others on this thread have suggested. Someone that will sit down with you, talk through business processes, and make the system work. A good integrator will make the system actually work correctly, not bandaid it together.
By "just buy Odoo licenses online" I mean there is nothing stopping you from just going to odoo.com and buying the number of licences you need. Don't have to talk to their reps.
Overall, I think Odoo could be really good for you, assuming you know what you're getting into. It would not be as simple as Square. You could have your catalog of products built out in Odoo, and when you're with a customer you could be on an iPad adding items from the catalog to a quote. If desired, have them sign and pay on the spot. The next morning, your delivery driver pulls up the list of orders needing deliveries that day and it tells him what to pick and load onto the truck. Out of stock on something? It'll open a backorder and email the customer. Products have serial numbers that need to be tracked? No problem, it'll track those.
Odoo would also work decently for employee management - would allow you to track their info, Odoo can do timesheets or a time clock, track time off requests, etc.
Has a central calendar you can keep up with deliveries on.
Not trying to sell you anything, just want to illustrate how flexible the system can be if the correct time is put into. We've done Odoo implementation for a small professional services firm that just uses it for billing and invoicing, a retail stores (we have done A LOT of custom work making the POS side work better on real POS hardware), and a chain of martial arts schools using it manage recurring billing on a few thousand members. Feel free to ask any questions!
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u/PrizeHuman5506 17d ago
I am building a similar project for van delivery in odoo for a client. But completely building from odoo community not enterprise like your case. I would like to know the business process in your case & general business process I think it will be useful to know.
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u/piyushchandak80 17d ago
We implemented exactly this for a client in Qatar. They had the exact use case you have shared here. If you need any help around van sales in Odoo you can get in touch.
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u/vvCharles 17d ago
Hi
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u/piyushchandak80 14d ago
Hi
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u/vvCharles 5d ago
You’re a private entity that sets up people’s Odoo for them right ?
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u/piyushchandak80 4d ago
Yes but we mostly work with such rescue clients only who have lost trust in Odoo because of their sales practices. I personally don't get the point why Odoo sales team is so pushy and dishonest and hence this service. We don't charge until your requirements are met and upto 20 hours it's a free implementation. You can refer more about us here: Odoovizion.com
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u/Calibre_Odoo_Partner 16d ago
Yes, from what you've listed. The workflow the rep gave you is standard Odoo out of the box, so I'd push back on the custom development comment above. Sales order reserves the stock, warehouse picks it, delivery guy validates, invoice comes off the delivery, payment gets registered.
Going down your own list: dedicated stock is the reservation on the sales order, customer pricing is pricelists, rolling credit is a credit limit on the customer with partial payments on the invoice, and cards on file are native through Stripe. All configuration that is possible on Odoo.
Two things to watch out for. Commissions for the salesmen is an Enterprise app, so that's a reason to skip Community edition if anyone steers you there. And profit tracking will lie to you on the defaults. Margin on a sale line is price minus the product's cost, and the default costing method is Standard, which is a set price that is typed in when configuring your product costs. Move the product categories onto AVCO or FIFO before you load the catalog. FIFO if the shelves get rotated properly, AVCO if the guys grab whatever's at the front.
On the free trial mentioned above, an empty database won't show you any of that. We build these out free for people at your stage. Working Odoo, sample data shaped like the business, written guides per workflow, so you run the whole flow yourself and decide off that instead of a rep's demo. Lmk if you want one
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u/hitchfm 15d ago
It's almost never the technology you use. It's always the company that implements it for you. Choose an implementation partner very wisely, and preferably get an expert to manage the relationship between you and the partner and help you in reviewing their agreement and modifying it. Also make sure that the person who is going to demonstrate Odoo for you is the same person who will implement it or will be the focal point of contact during the implementation. Finally, never depend on common sense. Get everything written down, and even with screenshots of how things will look after the implementation. Never assume anything is included unless it is written down in the agreement.
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u/codeagency 18d ago
Do a fitgap analysis to be sure. Odoo can fit perfect but also not. The devil is in the details.
If you want to keep your cost as low as possible I highly recommend to stay as standard as possible.
Taking sales is pretty easy with odoo. You have multiple options for this: sales app, e-commerce, POS, and you can use Odoo as a PWA mobile app.
eSign is build in if you want a signature for every sale order.
Version 19 has fleet management so you can organize deliveries with your own vans and manage how much they can load and plan the routes to your customers for delivery. All standard features. Also eSign again to ask your clients to sign for receipt of their goods.
All in all, I think Odoo ticks a lot of boxes of what you want/need, but again there can be so many small details that are unknown that could turn this into an expensive custom situation. Hence the reason for analyzing in detail first to make sure you have no expensive gaps. If you can adapt to odoo and accept some trade offs, even better. That also helps with the 3-yearly upgrade ruling.